Denmark avoids Hungarian minister meetings: Sent officials instead
The Danish government has decided not to send ministers to informal minister meetings in Hungary in response to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s recent visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) announced in a response to the Danish Parliament’s European Affairs Committee that Denmark will instead be represented by officials at these meetings.
“The government wants to clearly distance itself from the Hungarian presidency’s handling of Ukraine in the first weeks of the presidency,” explained Løkke. “Therefore, Denmark will for the time being cover informal minister meetings in Hungary at the official level.”
The EU Commission has also decided that their commissioners will not participate in the informal Council of Ministers meetings in Hungary until the end of the year. The Commission justified this by stating that Viktor Orbán should not travel around on his self-proclaimed peace mission while representing all EU countries through the presidency.
Several EU member countries have criticized Orbán’s meetings, as they believe that Hungary is using the presidency to legitimize Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. The Swedish government also announced that they will not send ministers to the meetings and called the Hungarian behavior during the presidency harmful. Sweden’s EU Minister, Jessika Roswall, told the news agency TT that Sweden will therefore not participate at a political level in the informal minister meetings.
Orbán’s so-called peace visit to Moscow took place without consultation with other EU countries. Hungary has held the rotating EU presidency since July 1, which switches between the 27 member countries. This means that Hungary will host a series of informal meetings in Budapest, where EU ministers usually gather.